Ethics agency fines Texas billionaire's PAC $6,500

PAUL J. WEBER | Associated Press

Published 8:49 am, Wednesday, January 2, 2013

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — State ethics officials fined Dallas billionaire Harold Simmons' political action committee $6,450 over campaign contributions to Texas lawmakers that were illegal because the prominent Republican donor was the sole donor to the PAC.

The ruling by the Texas Ethics Commission comes nearly a year after a watchdog group filed a complaint against WCS-Texas Solutions, which has called the nearly $65,000 in illegal campaign contributions the result of a mistake. The PAC was created by Waste Control Specialists, which is owned by Simmons and runs a nuclear waste site in West Texas.

State law requires PACs to have at least 10 donors before handing out campaign contributions. But when the newly formed PAC gave 18 state lawmakers — 15 Republicans and three Democrats — between $1,000 and $10,000 in 2011, Simmons was the sole source of the funds.

Texans for Public Justice, the nonprofit advocacy group that filed the complaint, said Wednesday it was disappointed in the "meager" size of the penalty.

"It represents a meaningless 10 percent surcharge on Mr. Simmons' illegal contributions. The appropriate solution would be a fine at least the size of the illegal contributions," executive director Craig McDonald said in a statement posted on the group's website.

The commission reviewed the complaint at a November meeting and closed the case Dec. 20.

Chuck McDonald, a spokesman for Waste Control Specialists and of no relation to watchdog group director, called the fine amount "appropriate." He said the fine was personally paid by Bill Lindquist, the campaign treasurer and Waste Control Specialists' chief executive officer.

Lindquist had immediately described the violation as a mistake when the complaint was filed in February and had pledged to work with the commission. Chuck McDonald said Wednesday the PAC was created to bring transparency to how Simmons was contributing on the state level.

"We always got accused of Harold Simmons doing this and that to help the company," McDonald said.

The commission order makes no mention of Simmons by name but notes he gave the PAC a contribution of $100,100 in September 2011. The PAC has about $54,000 cash on hand, according to its last state filing in October.